Isaac Bashevis Singer (Magill Book Reviews)

At a glance:

According to biographer Janet Hadda, Isaac Bashevis Singer and the media collaborated to produce a portrait of a man “winsome and naive.” Thus, the NEW YORK TIMES’ report of Singer’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech ignored the literary allusions that ranged from Plato to Israel Joshua Singer and instead concentrated on his statements about the humility of Yiddish and of those who use that language. Similarly, THE JEWISH WEEK-AMERICAN EXAMINER for October 15, 1978, reported that Singer had “been a vegetarian since his early youth,” though in fact he did not stop eating meat until late in life.

The reality that Hadda paints of Singer in ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER: A LIFE differs markedly from the charming image in most people’s minds. Hadda notes that the Singer who wrote such charming books for children had no contact with his own son for twenty years. Singer also remained aloof from his sister, cheated on his wife, and was often at odds with his literary mentor, who was also his older brother. Singer appears as an ignored, unhappy child who later married a woman who did not share his language or background; he is an unhappy man who sometimes used the image of a pig as his signature.

A psychologist, Hadda insightfully examines the implications of the various names that Singer used as a writer: Bashevis, Isaac Singer, Y. Varshavsky (i.e. Y from Warsaw), D. Segal, Yitskhok Bashevis. As a professor of Yiddish, Hadda offers useful commentary on some of Singer’s fiction, particularly on three stories that he wrote early in 1945, stories that Hadda astutely links to the Holocaust. One wishes that Hadda had commented more fully and more often on other works by Singer.

Even as biography the volume demonstrates curious lapses, such as the failure to note Singer’s place of birth, to discuss his reading, or to trace the sources of Singer’s fiction in his experiences. At the same time, Hadda devotes a substantial chapter to stage and screen adaptations of Singer’s works, even though he often had little to do with these. Students of Singer will want to read Hadda’s book, but the definitive biography remains to be written.

Sources for Further Study

Commentary. CIV, no. 3, September, 1997, p. 68.

Library Journal. CXXII, no. 3, February 15, 1997, p. 135.

Publishers Weekly. CCXLIV, no. 10, March 10, 1997, p. 57.

The Wall Street Journal. CCLX, December 30, 1997, p. A8.